In a Word, Patience. Wait. I mean Risotto.

It’s tempting to reference “modern life’s” persistent message that we don’t have enough time these days. Work, kids, transit, whatever. I’m not going to do that. Instead I’ll spend a moment discussing the benefits of making risotto at home.

My introduction to this dish was originally at a friend’s house for dinner. Several of us had been invited over for mushroom risotto which, having only ever had it out of a box, didn’t sound like a life-altering event. I assumed we’d be dining on the instant rice I knew plus mushrooms. In addition to being wrong in that assumption, I also learned that it’s sometimes it’s the most unexpected of things that leave the heaviest marks. As we ate, we all praised out friend as the best cook we knew and basically made the ridiculous noises you make when you eat something heavenly for the whole evening.

I think you should make risotto at home. Not just because it’s amazing. I want you to make it because risotto from scratch’s main ingredient is time. Quantity and Quality come into play here; not only how long it’s going to take but also the kind of mood you’re in and how quiet you can get in your head.

Creamy without cream, flavorful without many ingredients, and completely filling as a single dish. The best part, and I’m serious here, you get to spend a whole  hour working on one thing that takes your constant attention. It’s meditation while making dinner. Delicious dinner.

The taste of Spring – asparagus and mushrooms heaven.

Want to try it? Of course you do.

You’ll obviously need a good, simple risotto recipe to follow (I’ve used several now but really like this one and this one), but I think you might also want these tips.

The thing about this process is that people who have done this a bunch of times tend to make it sound really easy. It’s kind of easy, but they don’t tell you how dedicated you have to become to this one pot. Reading the recipe for the first time, I though I’d cut everything up with the rice cooked. I tried to wash some of the dishes at the same time. I burnt that batch.

There’s no cutting. There’s no washing. There’s only you and rice.

Stirring. Watching. Waiting. Stirring.

But first, there’s preparation. You can put almost anything into risotto. Squash, peanuts, mushrooms, fruit, whatever. I’d say start with something simple and get it ready before you move to the rice phase. For my dinner last night, I seared the mushrooms and then cooked the asparagus with them for a few moments separately. While you’re at it, cut up an onion or a few shallots and a few pieces of garlic and let them sit out a moment.

Seared mushrooms and asparagus. Waiting.

You also need to get a pot of stock going towards a boil. I try to use my own homemade stock when I can. This week, it’s store bought. If you do go with a packaged version, be sure to get a low-sodium version or the saltiness can get out of control. Chicken or veg are both good. Beef is too meaty for a light flavor (like lemon) but might be good for something like mushrooms and walnuts.

So, veggies ready. Stock almost boiling. Time to add that onion to your risotto arena and get them warmed and wilted. A big stock pot is best, by the way. There’s a lot of sloshing that’s about to take place and you’ll need the room. For now, just cook the onion in a heap of butter and then add the garlic for a moment to warm and smell up your kitchen.

Then prepare yourself.

You’re about to have to give over all of your attention. No phones, no TV, no distractions.

Ready?

Let’s get the rice in there. Your recipe will give you the amounts here but I always, always make more. I started with 1 c. of rice for two people but have moved to 2.5 c. – we still eat it all and usually want more.

This isn’t a fancy brand or anything, but you do want to make sure you’re using arborio rice.

The next thing is to make sure you have the set up all ready. Here,  the onion is cooked, the garlic is fragrant and the rice is in  is in. Next door, the ladle and stock are ready.

Stock almost at a boil, a ladle that’s about a cup (ideally), and your rice pot.

The rice usually cooks a few moments and looks like this when it’s ready for the first round of liquid –

Risotto ready for action.

It’s here where the zen of this whole thing begins. Whatever you’re adding, whatever the occasion for making this particular dish, you are going to need to zone in for the next 45 minutes or so. Risotto is a slow-cooking, open-pot rice that absorbs liquid in phases. The idea is that you cook a little liquid in, stir until it’s absorbed, then add more liquid. The first round is often white wine or maybe a little vinegar. This helps the flavor tremendously although it’s not totally necessary. From there it’s just stock and time and your arms at work.

When I make risotto, sort of like when I garden or have a “big project” type cleaning session, I often find my mind wandering here and there. There’s more physicality to this dinner than most. It’s strenuous. Your arm is going to hurt. In the meantime, your mind can wander.

If you don’t embrace this, you’re going to want to splash in more stock to hurry things up. But you can’t. You have to take your time. The beautiful thing is that the longer it cooks (or the more ladles of stock you’ve added) the slower the process becomes. You stir until you see the rice starting to dry out. Then and only then can you add more stock. It might be a minute or two at first, but that slows as the rice softens and, by the end, you’re stirring for several minutes before needing to add more stock.

This is what it looks like when you need more stock.

The frantic chopping and washing and hurrying that you do when cooking sometimes has to be left. It’s just you and the pot and the wooden spoon.

Time to think about things you’ve pushed aside until later. Time to plan a nice thing to do for someone. Time to be grateful. Time, in other words, for you and your thoughts.

The payoff? I can’t really describe it. For one, an amazing dinner. Seriously, if you feed this to your friends you will instantly become the one they know as “the great cook.” You also get versatility; from this basic idea you can add cheese, lemon zest, vegetables from any season, even fruit for a breakfast version. It’s all delicious and luxurious in a way that only things that take a long time to make can be. Plus, you get some time with you, which, as we all feel sometimes, there’s just not enough time for these days.

Making risotto shows me that perhaps it’s been there all along, this time we are missing. Perhaps just a little time spent at the alter of patience will help us remember.